On Thursday, China’s ByteDance, which owns short video app TikTok, announced it will invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next several years amid growing worldwide scrutiny over its data security.
Southeast Asia, with 630 million people, half of whom are under 30, is one of TikTok’s greatest markets, with over 325 million monthly users.
The site confronts tough competition from Sea’s (SE.N) Shopee, Alibaba’s (9988.HK) Lazada, and GoTo’s (GOTO.JK) Tokopedia.
“We’re going to invest billions of dollars in Indonesia and Southeast Asia over the next few years,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said at a Jakarta gathering to promote the app’s social and economic benefits.
TikTok said it will spend on training, advertising, and helping small merchants on its e-commerce platform TikTok Shop, but did not offer a breakdown.
To expand e-commerce, TikTok will invest billions in Southeast Asia.
As it gains users and grows into e-commerce, Chew said its material was getting more diverse.
He noted that Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, has 2 million TikTok sellers and 8,000 staff.
According to Momentum Works, regional e-commerce transactions hit over $100 billion last year, with Indonesia contributing $52 billion.
Momentum Works said that TikTok processed $4.4 billion in Southeast Asian transactions in 2022, up from $600 million in 2021, although it still underperformed Shopee’s $48 billion in regional product sales.
TikTok’s investment plan comes amid fears from various countries and authorities that Beijing may exploit the app to gather user data or further its objectives.
TikTok called the bans on government phones in Britain and New Zealand “fundamental misconceptions” and geopolitical.
TikTok has frequently denied sharing data with the Chinese authorities and stated it would not do so if requested.
Southeast Asian governments have not banned the app, although its content has been criticized.
In 2018, Indonesia temporarily banned TikTok for “pornography, inappropriate content and blasphemy.”
Vietnam’s officials claimed they will investigate TikTok because its “toxic” material threatens its “youth, culture and tradition.”
